Cheap Entertaining Ideas

Alcohol-Themed Parties

To get out of having to provide enough booze for your friend who drinks like a fish try planning a party around a particular beverage. Any of these suggestions pass some of the responsibility onto your guests, guaranteeing a low-cost, but well stocked bar.

Wine and Dine

Ask guests to bring a bottle to a dinner party—specify that it should go with a particular course or dish—then make sure you serve their donated wine with the appropriate food. Wine and cheese parties are also popular.

Bring on the Brew

With the explosion of microbreweries, there is now an exciting variety of beers. Host a beer-tasting party and invite your friends to bring a six-pack of their favourite stout, pale ale, amber ale or lager. Mexican, Indian and Chinese food are all enhanced by beer, so dishes from these cuisines make a good accompaniment.

Wine Tasting

Most of us will readily admit we are not wine connoisseurs and have difficulty telling the difference between types of wine, wineries and price ranges. Why not combine a party with a bit of wine education by hosting a wine-tasting party. Limit it to one type of wine (Chablis, merlot) with everyone bringing a different product. You can assign everyone a different country or price range (split the total cost at the end). If the group’s taste is less sophisticated, everyone can simply bring a different type of either red or white. Of course, make sure there are lots of nibblies.